Buffalo Grove golf pro Kristy Vik has brought an entrepreneurial spirit to her duties as director of the district's Park Services Division and her management of the Golf and Sports Center.

26 Illinois Parks and Recreation www.ILipra.org

The road that is Kristy Vik's professional career has had many forks, twists and turns, but according to Vik, it is that combination of experiences that makes her the person she is and enables her to create and balance a professional career that is unlike the typical golf professional's.

Like others in her field, Kristy teaches the game she loves and runs a golf facility. What sets her apart is her ability to recognize and create opportunities.

It's uncertain whether Vik's dedication to "beyond golf" park services makes her simply a standout employee at the Buffalo Grove Park District or puts her ahead of her time. But a look at her career and the way she's turned challenges into profitable experiences for herself, her staff and her park district reveals that when golf pros that work for public facilities are able to offer more than lessons on driving, chipping and putting, they become undeniable assets to their agencies.

It Started with Half Measures

Vik joined the Buffalo Grove Park District in 1999. More accurately, she "half joined" the district that year. Back then, she split her time between Buffalo Grove and her former longtime employer, the Park Ridge Park District. She ran Park Ridge's golf range in the summer and Buffalo Grove's indoor dome facility in the winter. With Buffalo Grove's indoor facility shuttered each summer, the arrangement worked well.

But that arrangement changed in 2004 when Buffalo Grove's director of recreation and facilities, Dan Schimmel, hired Vik full time. "My goal was to be the best facility in the region, and she said that wasn't good enough," said Schimmel. "She wants to make ours the best indoor golf facility in the nation, not just the Chicago area or among the five competing facilities in our area."

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Envisioning New Roles

In order to justify employing her year round, the district created a new position. In addition to overseeing golf operations, Vik would now also expand the rental business of the park district's indoor golf facility to include parties and team sports practices. She would also manage the district's Park Services Division, which includes concession sales and park rentals.

Vik may be one of a new era of public golf professionals whose drive and passion for her park services responsibilities match her dedication to the district's golf operations. According to her colleagues, her vision has entirely reinvented the way Buffalo Grove handles its summer concessions business. Rather than only providing permanent concession stands in large parks, she has taken the golf course beverage cart concept to the parks, and the results are fantastic. Not only have sales significantly increased, but people in the community also enjoy the added amenity.

"I love them," Buffalo Grove resident David Becker said of the mobile concession carts in the parks. "It's a great service that the park district is providing. When I'm at a concert in the park, I don't have to get up to buy a drink or snack. They come right to me."

And, even Vik is surprised at how many teams in the area purchase rental time to use the indoor golf dome to hold team practices. "With the dome being used for sports like football, soccer, baseball, softball and lacrosse as often as it is, we had to rename the facility from the Golf Learning Center to the Golf and Sports Center," said Vik.

Making it About More than Golf Lessons

Scheduling people to push concession carts and drumming up business with the local lacrosse club are not what a teaching pro expects to see listed among her job duties. And it's important to realize that Vik takes on the extraordinary responsibilities even though her credentials match or surpass those of many country club teaching pros that confine themselves to managing lessons and, perhaps, the pro shop.

In her days at Iowa State, Kristy Vik was an All Big 8 Conference player in 1977, 1978 and 1979. She competed in the AIAW National Tournament in 1978 and 1979. She went on to play as a professional on the Futures Tour from 1981 to 1984, and she became a Class A Professional in 1984. In December 2005, the PGA/LPGA chose Vik to write the curriculum for a new managerial track of that organization's course offerings for up and coming golf professionals. She also teaches that curriculum. It is a position that Vik saw a need for, because, according to her, "many golf professionals are being passed over when they are applying to reach that next level. The jobs are going to people with management experience or business degrees. This new educational track for golf professionals will cover all areas of management."

The Results Are On Course

In January 2006, the Golf Range Association of America named the Buffalo Grove Golf and Sports Center the number three indoor golf practice facility in the United States and a top fifty facility (both indoor and outdoor) in the Midwest. The district's accomplishment is in no small measure a result of Vik's efforts. "When you have great people who are dedicated to excellence, this is the result. We've known Kristy is the best at what she does for a while. Now the whole country knows, too," said Buffalo Grove Park District Executive Director Mike Rylko.

Although most at the Buffalo Grove Park District credit Vik for the Golf and Sports Center's success, she credits her staff, some of whom have been with her a long time. The teaching professionals at Buffalo Grove include PGA Professional John Andrews, Todd Sones, a Golf Digest Top 100 Professional, and Bev Miller, an LPGA Master Professional and a Golf Digest Top 50 Professional. Vik met Miller in 1981, when she became Vik's teacher. In 1984, Miller hired Vik as a golf instructor, and the two have been working together ever since. The only difference is now Miller works for Vik.

Aside from golf instruction, Vik's right hand at Buffalo Grove is Shawn Khan. In addition to assisting Vik with the operation of the Golf and Sports Center, Khan also works for Vik in the Park Services Division during the summer months.

It's hard to know what the future holds for someone who takes risks and creates opportunities the way Kristy Vik does. But, given her recent golf and administrative-related accomplishments, there's a good chance you can find her at the Buffalo Grove Park District for many years to come.

Mike Terson is public relations and marketing manager at the Buffalo Grove Park District.

28 Illinois Parks and Recreation www.ILipra.org